Microsoft rolls out UK VoD service 10 Mar 2010
Software giant Microsoft will tomorrow launch MSN Video Player, the video-on-demand player that it has been testing since last summer, across the UK.
|
 |
TV5Monde launches New Orleans VoD net 10 Mar 2010
French-language international TV network TV5Monde has entered its first video-on-demand market and launched a locally themed channel on the Cox cable operator in New Orleans, Louisiana.
|
|
Battlestar Galactica gets MMO 10 Mar 2010
NBC Universal is lining up a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on sci-fi drama series Battlestar Galactica - the first fruit of its investment in German games firm Bigpoint.
|
|
Miller time for Mip keynote 9 Mar 2010
News Corp chief digital officer Jonathan Miller is to deliver the Mip Digital keynote at MipTV in Cannes on April 13.
|
|
TiVo losses widen 9 Mar 2010
US time-shifted TV specialist TiVo has reported a lower-than-anticipated fourth quarter loss, but still almost three times higher than for the same period last year.
|
|
Dailymotion tunes up Warner Music 9 Mar 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Online video service Dailymotion has struck a deal with Warner Music Group, giving its users access to thousands of music videos, concerts and interviews.
|
|
Google, Dish 'testing TV search service' 9 Mar 2010
Internet search giant Google is teaming up with Dish Network, America's second-biggest satellite TV platform, to secretly test a television programming search service.
|
|
New SVP of digital at MTVNI 8 Mar 2010
Viacom has promoted internally to fill the post of senior VP of digital media for MTV Networks International, following the departure of Gideon Bierer.
|
|
Behind the BBC's online cuts 5 Mar 2010
The BBC this week unveiled plans to halve the number of its websites by 2012 and cut online spend by 25% before 2013. But what's really behind the numbers, asks Jonathan Webdale.
|
|
US Office welcomes web Mentor 5 Mar 2010
NEWS BRIEF: US network NBC has taken its sitcom The Office to the internet for the third time, launching a four-part web tie-in based on the Reveille-produced series.
|
|
Virgin boss attacks BBC Trust 4 Mar 2010
Virgin Media CEO Neil Berkett is set to slam the BBC Trust's "shameless whitewash" of the Beeb's Project Canvas initiative when he joins a panel session at Cable Congress today.
|
|
UK mobile deal for WarnerTV 4 Mar 2010
WarnerTV, the branded channel from Warner Bros, has sealed a deal with UK mobile operator 3, giving subscribers on-demand access to hundreds of episodes of the US studio's TV series each year.
|
|
TiVo unwraps new set-top boxes 4 Mar 2010
TiVo has unveiled its latest set-top boxes, the Premiere and Premiere XL, which combine cable programming, movies, web video and music.
|
|
CBC gets Heavy for web channel 4 Mar 2010
Canuck indie web video company Heavy.com has hooked up with Canadian pubcaster CBC to launch an online channel featuring movie reviews and celebrity news.
|
|
Viacom loses sense of humour with Hulu 3 Mar 2010
US online video service Hulu is losing two of its most popular shows after failing to reach a new deal with Viacom's Comedy Central for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.
|
|
Viasat ups Scandi IPTV offering 3 Mar 2010
Scandinavia's Viasat Broadcasting has sealed a long-term deal to distribute its pay-TV packages to Norwegian broadband provider Telenor Norge's IPTV customers.
|
|
Oscar shorts get VoD window 3 Mar 2010
Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures have teamed up with a variety of cable platforms to make this year's Oscar-nominated short films available on-demand.
|
|
TV Azteca taps Ooyala 3 Mar 2010
Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca has signed with US online video specialist Ooyala to test the company's TV Everywhere technology.
|
|
Univision tastes BlackBerry app 3 Mar 2010
US Hispanic broadcaster Univision has launched a video app for BlackBerry smartphones.
|
|
Turkish web TV platform launches 3 Mar 2010
Turkish telecoms firm TTNet has launched Tivibu, a web TV platform that offers more than 60 linear television channels and video-on-demand services to the company's 5.7 million subscriber homes.
|
|
US studio tries on The Coat 2 Mar 2010
Los Angeles-based Moving Pictures Film & Television is in talks with "a major US studio" about turning French web drama The Coat into a TV series for the US market, the company has told C21.
|
|
Babelgum founder arrested 1 Mar 2010
The founder and sole financier of internet video service Babelgum has been jailed in Italy pending an investigation into his alleged involvement in a €2bn (US$2.7bn) money laundering scheme.
|
|
JCA teams up with OTV 26 Feb 2010
UK-based media management firm JCA and programme sales website provider OTV have joined forces.
|
|
PA uncovers FindMeTV 26 Feb 2010
The UK's Press Association has secured the support of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and Sky to launch a comprehensive online guide to on-demand video.
|
|
French catch-up viewing shifts into gear 25 Feb 2010
Catch-up TV and time-shifted viewing are gaining ground in France, while about half the population now has flat-screen and high-definition sets, according to new research.
|
|
TV.com signs Five in first major UK deal 25 Feb 2010
UK terrestrial Five has struck an on-demand deal with CBS-owned TV.com, following similar tie-ups with YouTube and SeeSaw.
|
|
Univision preps online novela push 23 Feb 2010
US Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is launching an online and mobile telenovela channel.
|
|
Warner Bros strikes accord with Rocksteady 23 Feb 2010
Warner Bros is again stepping up its investment in the video games space, acquiring a majority stake in UK-based developer Rocksteady Studios.
|
|
Wal-Mart pins hope on Vudu 23 Feb 2010
US retail giant Wal-Mart is acquiring California-based video-on-demand provider Vudu, with a price tag of over US$100m reportedly being put on the deal.
|
|
Shatner boldly joins Twitter comedy 22 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: William Shatner has joined the pilot for Sh*t My Dad Says, signing on to playing the father in the comedy, which is based on the Twitter account of the same name.
|
|
Atom series explodes on to MTV2 19 Feb 2010
The Atom Show, a 15-minute best-of series developed by Comedy Central's video portal Atom.com, has been picked up by US music and entertainment network MTV2.
|
|
Swings and roundabouts for SeeSaw 19 Feb 2010
UK video-on-demand service SeeSaw went live on Wednesday with programming from the BBC, Channel 4 and Five. Jonathan Webdale assesses its chances of success.
|
|
HBO Go debuts on Verizon IPTV 18 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Customers from US telecoms group Verizon's FiOS IPTV service will be the first to gain access to HBO's new online video portal.
|
|
Friends Reunited sale approved 18 Feb 2010
UK competition authorities have given ITV the go-ahead for the £25m (US$39m) sale of its social networking site Friends Reunited to IT firm Brightsolid.
|
|
BBC unveils first iPhone apps 17 Feb 2010
The BBC is to release its first iPhone apps for its news and sport content and will roll out similar products for other devices.
|
|
SeeSaw 'will struggle to lift off' 17 Feb 2010
Arqiva's UK video-on-demand service SeeSaw faces an uphill battle as it launches to the public today, according to leading media analysts.
|
|
Turner taps Brightcove for web video 17 Feb 2010
Turner Broadcasting is to step up online video activities around its kids' channels in Europe after signing up technology company Brightcove.
|
|
Merlin casts spell over App Store 16 Feb 2010
BBC drama Merlin is getting its own iPhone app role-playing game, courtesy of distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises and German games developer Intentum.
|
|
Freeview flexes its apps 16 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: UK digital terrestrial platform Freeview has hopped on board the iPhone app bandwagon.
|
|
Warner Bros pushes into Polish SVoD 16 Feb 2010
Warner Bros and Polish commercial network TVN are hooking up to launch a subscription video-on-demand service through the broadcaster's online portal.
|
|
RDF Rights adopts Simon's Cat 15 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: RDF Rights has been appointed as UK licensing agent for online animated series Simon's Cat.
|
|
Web series market worth $140m by 2013 12 Feb 2010
Europe and the US spent more than £30m (US$46.9m) on producing original web series in 2009, a figure set to rise to almost £90m by 2013, according to new research.
|
|
Veoh hits the buffers 12 Feb 2010
Four-year-old web video pioneer Veoh has gone under, yesterday making the remainder of its staff redundant, and CEO Dmitry Shapiro has confirmed he is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
|
|
My Digital Media: Simon Kay, JCA 11 Feb 2010
Digital service provider JCA's MD Simon Kay shares details of his own digital media consumption and offers his views on the future of entertainment.
|
|
Ameba launches kids' download service 11 Feb 2010
Canuck IPTV provider Ameba has created a North American web content portal housing more than 500 hours of downloadable children's programming for bespoke set-top boxes.
|
|
Apple rethinks TV sales ahead of iPad 11 Feb 2010
Apple has reportedly convinced a number of its TV distribution partners to drop the price of episodes they offer via iTunes in time for April's debut of the iPad.
|
|
C4, Arts Council unite for online arts 11 Feb 2010
UK pubcaster Channel 4 has teamed up with the Arts Council England to develop a range of multi-platform arts projects, which are set to launch online and on TV later this year.
|
|
BT holds out for Canvas 11 Feb 2010
UK telecoms company BT has seen its IPTV customers inch towards the half-million mark, but is still hanging its hopes on its involvement in Project Canvas to boost its footprint in the sector.
|
|
STV takes another gamble on NetPlay 11 Feb 2010
Scottish ITV franchisee STV has struck a new two-year TV distribution deal with interactive gaming company NetPlay TV.
|
|
MySpace CEO out 11 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta has left the company after less than a year in the job.
|
|
SVT inks more Aisling's Diary 10 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Swedish broadcaster SVT has acquired Irish web series Aisling's Summer Diary.
|
|
Sesame gets more social 9 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organisation behind Sesame Street, has created a new post in order to step up its social media presence.
|
|
Murdoch's message 27 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Elisabeth Murdoch is here in Las Vegas to spread the message that the web is not TV's enemy and, particularly with social media, can be its friend. Ed Waller reports.
|
|
Dailymotion's Ripert in new US role 5 Feb 2010
French video portal Dailymotion has promoted senior manager for content and partnerships David Ripert to a new position the US.
|
|
Hulu scoops ABC News coverage 5 Feb 2010
NEWS BRIEF: US video streaming service Hulu has begun carrying programming from American news network ABC News.
|
|
DHX puts kids classics on the iPhone 4 Feb 2010
Canada's DHX Interactive has launched its latest apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, this time bringing to life animated versions of classic children's stories from Hans Christian Andersen for US$1.99 a pop.
|
|
ITV duo create web service 3 Feb 2010
Jeff Henry and Rob Ovens, formerly execs at UK broadcaster ITV, have resurfaced as founders of a new web service called TellyLinks.com.
|
|
BBC adds to web comedy 3 Feb 2010
UK public broadcaster the BBC has commissioned another eight episodes of comedy web series Brian Pern, to air online later this year.
|
|
iTunes offers final Lost in France, Germany 3 Feb 2010
Disney EMEA has linked up with Apple's iTunes Store to sell subtitled episodes of the final season of Lost to viewers in France and Germany shortly after their first US transmission.
|
|
PlayStation tests the water with reality series 2 Feb 2010
Sony's video gaming system PlayStation 3 is getting its own reality series, produced by the creators of The Surreal Life and Rock of Love, and will debut it later this month.
|
|
ITN launching German YouTube channel 2 Feb 2010
ITV-backed UK news and factual content producer ITN is moving into foreign-language production for the first time, producing a German showbiz channel for video streaming portal YouTube.
|
|
Twitter bolsters media team 1 Feb 2010
Micro-blogging site Twitter has hired a second executive from Al Gore's Current TV channel, in an effort to foster stronger relationships with established media companies.
|
|
BBC, ITV content drives Virgin VoD growth 1 Feb 2010
UK-based Virgin Media's catch-up television service had more than 750 million on-demand views in 2009, according to figures released today by the cable provider.
|
|
SeeSaw lifts international content 29 Jan 2010
SeeSaw, the video-on-demand service born out of failed UK joint venture Project Kangaroo, has picked up more than 3,000 hours of new content, including international programming.
|
|
EC takes action over French telco, ISP tax 29 Jan 2010
The European Commission has claimed that the tax on telcos and ISPs introduced by the French government to support pubcaster France Télévisions breaks European Union rules.
|
|
Comcast, NBCU in content pledge 29 Jan 2010
Comcast and NBC Universal have promised to boost content for children and minorities as they seek approval for their US$30bn merger, while questions remain about how the move will affect internet TV.
|
|
Twitter + TV + iPad = ? 28 Jan 2010
The integration of social media and TV was the main buzz at NATPE in Las Vegas this week. Could the Apple iPad, launched nearby in San Francisco, play a role, asks Jonathan Webdale from the US.
|
|
Murdoch tells TV execs to be more social 28 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Elisabeth Murdoch has told TV companies they need to embrace social networks and warned that resisting them would be akin to having ignored the switch from black and white to colour.
|
|
First sight of Apple iPad 27 Jan 2010
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today unveiled the company's latest creation – a multimedia device halfway between a laptop and an iPhone that could offer content owners new ways or reaching consumers.
|
|
The many worlds of Murrieta 27 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Screenwriters should think in terms of creating worlds rather than just storylines, FM78.tv partner and web content producer Peter Murrieta told delegates here yesterday.
|
|
Levinsohn lights Fuse for Apple Tablet 27 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Fuse Capital partner Ross Levinsohn – the former president of Fox Interactive Media – has compared today's anticipated debut of the Apple Tablet to the launch of the space shuttle.
|
|
Apple calls for TV show price cut 26 Jan 2010
Apple is pushing television companies to lower the price of download-to-own shows offered through its iTunes Store, according to a UK report.
|
|
Twitter 'yet to reach full TV potential' 26 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Twitter is the "scaleable TV platform we've been waiting 25 years for" and is the "first measure of the water cooler effect," according to the micro-blogging network's director of media partnerships.
|
|
Vuguru guru deflates YouTube 26 Jan 2010
NATPE NEWS: Michael Eisner, CEO of the Tornante Company and chairman of Vuguru, hit out at YouTube and MySpace yesterday in Las Vegas.
|
|
Kangaroo successor SeeSaw kicks off 25 Jan 2010
SeeSaw, the video-on-demand service using the technology behind failed UK joint venture Project Kangaroo, is to launch as a beta trial tomorrow, with a full launch set for late February.
|
|
Orange targets Africans in France 23 Jan 2010
NEWS BRIEF: French IPTV platform Orange has added an African channel package to its bouquet, comprising seven public and one private channel, after a deal with distributor Thema.
|
|
BBC hires EA exec for games move 22 Jan 2010
BBC Worldwide has poached the VP of strategy and operations for social gaming from games developer Electronic Arts to be its new LA-based exec VP of digital entertainment.
|
|
Metan takes Hollywood to China 22 Jan 2010
US media company Metan Development Group is adding content from its programme catalogue to 10 online video portals in China.
|
|
The shape of things to come 21 Jan 2010
Terry Back, digital media partner at Grant Thornton UK, offers his take on how IPTV will develop over the next few years in a rapidly changing television landscape.
|
|
Elephant stampedes online cricket world 21 Jan 2010
Willow TV, the website that owns US streaming rights to top-flight Indian cricket, has been acquired by the same venture capital firm that controls the company behind yesterday's Indian Premier League deal with YouTube.
|
|
Sony's Crackle digs Trenches 21 Jan 2010
Sony Pictures' online video network Crackle has picked up shortform science fiction web series Trenches, which it will launch online in February.
|
|
YouTube scores live Indian cricket 20 Jan 2010
YouTube has made its first move into the live sporting arena, securing rights to the world's biggest cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, for the next two years.
|
|
France 24 says 'moshi moshi' 20 Jan 2010
NEWS BRIEF: France 24, the English-language news channel, has gained access to 55 million mobile phone users in Japan.
|
|
Canuck fund to back web drama 20 Jan 2010
Canada's Independent Production Fund has approved a pilot programme to fund drama series created for new media platforms.
|
|
Voddler takes on Spider-Man 18 Jan 2010
NEWS BRIEF: Voddler has become the first Scandinavian video-on-demand service to acquire hit movies from Sony Pictures Television.
|
|
Sky to premier soccer highlights via iPhone 15 Jan 2010
UK satcaster BSkyB is poised to make paid-for top-flight soccer highlights available via an update to one of its popular iPhone apps ahead of their broadcast on the BBC's Match of the Day.
|
|
Games consoles drive iPlayer growth 15 Jan 2010
One in eight BBC iPlayer TV requests now come from UK licence fee payers accessing the on-demand service via a Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation 3 games console, writes Jonathan Webdale.
|
|
Fireworks, Corman ink Splatter deal 14 Jan 2010
Distributor Fireworks International has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Splatter, a multi-platform web series from horror filmmaker Roger Corman.
|
|
Netflix boots up Wii partnership 13 Jan 2010
US online video rental service Netflix's television programming is to be made available through the Nintendo Wii games console.
|
|
ETV opens shop down under 13 Jan 2010
London-based multi-platform producer ETV is branching out, with co-founder Adrian Swift relocating down under to launch the company's first international office in Australia.
|
|
Report slams Orange strategy 12 Jan 2010
A French government report has attacked Orange for marketing its Orange Sports and Orange Cinéma Séries TV channels exclusively among its triple-play subscribers.
|
|
Satellite pirate fined $51m 12 Jan 2010
A Florida federal court has fined a man US$51m for distributing software on the internet that allowed others to illegally receive the signal from satellite TV provider Dish Network.
|
|
Kirill heads to Hulu 12 Jan 2010
Endemol UK has inked a deal for US video-on-demand service Hulu to host MSN-backed science fiction web series Kirill.
|
|
Silverman teams with Arrested Development duo 8 Jan 2010
Ben Silverman's web content start-up Electus has sealed a deal with two comedy actors from Arrested Development to launch an advertiser-funded production company.
|
|
Orange, LG buddy for connected TV 8 Jan 2010
France's Orange and LG Electronics have signed a three-year deal that will bring the telecommunications company's web content - including VoD – to internet-connected TVs.
|
|
Yahoo! votes for Silverman's Electus 8 Jan 2010
Ben Silverman's production company Electus has struck a deal with Yahoo! to develop and produce content for the web portal.
|
|
Convergence still in a spin 8 Jan 2010
YouTube and Hulu continue to balloon and are racing towards the TV set. But amid all the excitement of 3D, iPhone-controlled helicopters and Nexus One, are fundamental rights issues being overlooked, asks Jonathan Webdale.
|
|
'Chinese Hulu' confirmed 7 Jan 2010
Chinese internet search giant Baidu has confirmed it plans to establish a Hulu-like online video web portal in the country.
|
|
Brightcove taps Adobe exec for new role 6 Jan 2010
Online video platform Brightcove has hired former Adobe VP David Mendels to fill the new position of president and chief operating officer.
|
|
Discovery, ESPN unveil 3D channels 6 Jan 2010
Two new dedicated 3D television channels are set to launch in the US, with sportscaster ESPN debuting its offering this year, and Discovery teaming up with Sony and Imax for a joint-venture network in 2011.
|
|
